If I didn't know any better
by WintersFortune
Summary: The story about my OC Asher the aspiring dancer turned rebel and the hot tempered Raphael and how they not only drive each other crazy, but how they find peace within themselves. Rated M for language, gore, and mature content. I also do not own TMNT characters.
1. Chapter 1

Asher's P.O.V

It was nearing 1am as Asher made her way home, her mind still buzzed from the rum she drank at a party hosted by strangers. But hey, they had been friendly enough and gave her free drinks and the music hadn't been half bad even if it wasn't her taste. Digging into the pocket of her large green cargo jacket she fished out her old iPod and selected Beastie Boys before tucking it safely back in her pocket and pulling her hood up in case of rain.

She had been right about the rain as it slowly began to drizzle , soaking her grey high top converse and filling the air with the smell of dirty water and rust. She narrowed her tawny eyes and looked up at the heavy black clouds and sighed, it was at least 5 more blocks until she got to her apartment .Of course she hadn't thought to bring an umbrella when she had left that afternoon and she was regretting it.

Grumbling to herself about being irresponsible she trudged along and began to sober up by the time she was half way to her destination. The rain was falling heavily now and put her in a sour mood as she paused beneath an overpass to squeeze water from her coat and teal colored hair, which was a long tangled mess. As she shook her jacket out, while complaining to herself, she didn't notice as three figures made their way over to her.

Suddenly she heard a chuckle come from behind her and spun around, dropping her iPod in the process "Dammit..." She cursed and looked up to see three men approach her.

"Thanks for that." She said sarcastically "if you guys made me break my iPod you-"

"We'll what?" The man in front interrupted with slurred words, he had dark messy hair and blood shot eyes and was obviously under the influence of something "you're in no position to be making demands."

Asher paled slightly and attempted to retrieve her iPod but backed away when the man took a few steps toward her, making him and his friends laugh.

"Aw I think she's scared." One of his friends spoke, his face hidden under a hood "I like em when they're afraid like that, makes things so much more fun."

Asher glared at them and punched the dark haired man when he made a grab for her. Her fist connected with his jaw and she was thankful for the self defense classes she took when she was a kid. The man swore and rubbed his jaw before fixing his predatory gaze on her, and she could smell the grime and alcohol on his breath when he spoke.

"That was a really stupid move you dumb bitch." He growled and back handed her, sending her falling to the ground.

Asher's instincts kicked in and she ditched her jacket and kicked the mans legs as hard as she could before making a run for it. She could hear the men yell obscenities as her feet pounded against the pavement and adrenaline coursed through her body. But it wasn't enough, she felt her lungs start to burn from the exertion and cursed her bad smoking habit. Knowing she couldn't outrun them she ran down an alley against her better judgement, hoping to find somewhere to hide or lose them. Reaching a dead end she panicked and looked around frantically, noticing a fire escape to her right.

"If I escape this I swear I'll quit smoking." She prayed quietly as she made her way to the fire escape.

With a sense of urgency she quickly began to pull herself up the metal ladder, almost slipping a couple times, as she hoisted herself up toward the small balcony. When she heard voices she glanced up to see the three men make there way down the alley with frightening determination. Ignoring the pain in her lungs and the ache in her arms she continued up the ladder and felt a sense of relief when the balcony was in arms reach. Just as her slender fingers brushed against it she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. Overwhelmed with dizziness she lost all the strength in her hands and fell.

When she landed the breath left her lungs and she gasped as the world spun around her before everything went black. The three men all laughed

"Time to have fun."

Raphael's P.O.V

It was turning out to be a dull night for Raphael and the rain was making his foul mood even worse. The day had started out bad when he woke up with a head ache and they ran out of aspirin the week before so there had been no help there. Then he was scolded by Master Splinter for not being focused during training and later found his punching bag had been damaged and no one would admit to it, though he was pretty sure it had been Mikey. So being fed up with his family he decided to go blow off steam and find some trouble.

But here he was sitting on his ass on some rooftop getting rained on, it probably couldn't get any worse. Then he heard his stomach rumble and he cursed at himself, he just had to jinx himself didn't he? That's when he heard it. There were voices coming from beneath the overpass next to the building he stood on. Walking over to the edge he looked down at the scene below him, chewing angrily at the toothpick In his mouth. At first it seemed liked the three guys and the girl he saw were just chatting but when one of the men grabbed for and she punched him he knew it wasn't a cordial meeting.

When he saw the man hit her his blood boiled and started making his way down when the girl ran with the men following closely behind her. As soon as his feet touched the ground he made his way to the alley way as the group disappeared behind a corner. Making sure he was hidden in shadow he pulled out his sai and and stood at his full height and stepped out, a determined frown on his face.

"Get away from the girl assholes." He spoke in his intimidating gruff voice, immediately gaining the groups attention.

The dark haired man turned around with an annoyed expression on his face and scoffed when he saw Raphael, only noticing his height and nothing else as the turtle was still concealed by shadows.

"I don't think you know who you're talking to kid." The man said and laughed when Raphael raised his weapons "look the little boy has toys" he mocked, making his friends laugh.

Raphael growled with impatience, he knew these men were drunk and probably couldn't see or think straight. But he wasn't about to let them take advantage of a helpless girl, or get away with hitting her. They were nothing but dishonorable filthy scum and he would treat them as such.

So he took a defensive stance and egged them on with a flick of his hand, and it worked like a charm. With a shout from the dark haired man his friends ran at Raphael brandishing nothing but flip knives. Now it was Raphael's turn to laugh.

First he knocked the feeble weapons from his assailants hands, kicking one in the stomach in the process and sending him sprawling on the concrete. He felt a sudden thump against his shell and turned to see the third man had found a piece of pipe, a terrified look on his face when he saw Raphael's face.

"F-freak!" The man shouted and swung the pipe down but Raphael caught it with a snarl.

He enjoyed the satisfying crunch the guys face made when his fist connected and knocked him out cold. Rolling his shoulders he turned around and stepped into the light and saw that the last man was visibly shaking which made Raphael smirk.

"Not so tough now are ya?" He growled and the man dropped his weapon and started lowering to the ground with his hands in front of his face.

"C-come on man, we w-were just having some fun ya know." The man replied nervously "w-we didn't mean any harm I s-swear!" He pleaded as Raphael stepped closer.

Raphael crouched down "oh of course you didn't, but you won't mind if I give ya something though would ya?" He said punching him square in the nose.

The man yelled in pain and covered his bloody broken nose with his hands "you bastard-" he froze when Raphael stood, towering over him and he quickly scurried away out of the alley before Raphael decided to "give" him something else.

Raphael spit his tooth pick out and turned to look at the girl with a sigh "what the hell do I do with you?"

He crouched down to get a better look at her and noticed blood in her teal hair and lifted some of it to see a good sized gash on the back of her scalp, it would need stitches. Lifting her gently in his arms he made sure she had no other obvious injuries but her dark jeans and Metallica t shirt seemed to be relatively untouched with no trace of blood. But didn't she have a jacket on beforehand? He looked around and spotted it beneath the overpass and hastily retrieved it and her iPod before making a bee line for a manhole about 20 feet away.

He knew Master Splinter would be angry but he couldn't take her to the hospital and he couldn't tell if anything else was wrong with the unconscious girl. Donnie would be able to tell and hopefully when she woke up she would go home without telling anyone about him and his brothers and everything would go back to normal. If only he knew how wrong he was.

To anyone who took the time to read this story thank you, this is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Asher's P.O.V

While unconscious she had been dreaming of her old home in Woodstock. She saw her old two story farm style home with its faded yellow paint and white trim, and it's dark blue shutters that had bright sunflowers on them that had been painted by her mother, Ysolde. It had a wrap around deck with an old rocking chair near the front door facing the pond that her grandmother would sit in as she would knit or read. She remembered sitting at her grandmothers feet as she would braid her hair and sing songs to her in languages she didn't understand, but Asher had loved her songs all the same.

Looking around she figured it was summer time from all the different flowers that grew around the home and property as the sun shone brightly high in the sky. A soft breeze swept past her, causing her hair to whip around her face. As Asher smoothed it back she noticed that her hair wasn't teal, but it's natural dark red, and looking at her hands they seemed so much smaller than she remembered. Shrugging she paid it no mind and smiled when she heard a familiar voice call to her from inside the house.

"Ash! Time to come in now!" Her mothers singsong voice seemed so quiet, almost like an echo or a whisper.

Asher ran towards her old home and noticed that her legs were also much smaller than normal and her feet were bare. She made it to the front porch and made sure to dust her feet off before stepping into the house because her mother would've killed her if she hadn't, and she reached for the front door. But something was wrong, whenever she tried grasping the handle her hand would just go right through as if nothing was there. She heard her mother call for her again, this time it sounded farther off and Asher began to feel panicked as she continued trying to open the door.

"Mom!" She shouted, her own voice sounded small and weak and everything began to fade in front of her and she awoke when she felt something rough and warm brush against her face.

Raphael's P.O.V

"I've stitched her up as well as I can and it doesn't look like she sustained any other serious injuries, she did suffer a minor concussion but she should wake up soon and be just fine." Donatello said as he washed his hands in the sink after making sure the girl was properly stitched and bandaged. They had been lucky that Master Splinter and Leonardo were gone and Michelangelo was asleep or Raphael would have gotten and earful.

Raphael grunted in response and looked down at the girl. She had been laid down on several blankets on the living room floor of the turtles lair, her shoes had been taken off and her teal hair was moved aside revealing fresh stitches on the back of her scalp. He shook his head, wishing he would have given those assholes a better beating. Her bare feet hung off the edge of the blankets and he noticed she was pretty tall for a girl, probably about 5'9". Kneeling down he also saw that she had callouses and a few scars on odd places on the bottoms of her feet and chipped purple nail polish on her toes. Her face was partially covered by her hair and when he reached out and moved it he was a bit taken aback by her appearance, she was really pretty.

Her face was strong yet soft with a defined jawline and chin and her lips were small but full with a slight pout. She also had high cheek bones and a light dusting of freckles over her cheeks and nose. Her eyebrows were elegant arches and she had a small scar that went from the top of her left temple into her hairline.

Reaching down he barely brushed a finger against it and he suddenly felt something smash into his face and he fell backwards onto his shell.

"Back off creep!" He heard a strong feminine voice shout and looked up, and his eyes met a fiery gaze of tawny and gold.

Realizing he had just been punched by the strange girl he quickly got his bearings and stood up slowly and kept out of arms reach in case she felt like throwing punches again.

"Hey I just saved your life! You should be thanking me!" He shouted back, and smirked when the girls face went from fury to shock when she realized what he was.

"What, never seen a turtle before?" He asked, his voice dripping with mockery and sarcasm and her expression quickly turned back to anger.

"Get away from me!" She said and backed away until her feet hit a beat up old coffee table littered with pizza boxes and game controllers.

Picking up a pizza box she chucked it at Raphael, hitting him on the head. He knew he would have gotten a bad reaction from the girl but he wasn't expecting that. With a growl he took a few steps toward her and held his hands in front of him in a friendly way, trying not to lose his temper, which was becoming increasingly difficult.

"Listen I only brought you here so my brother could fix you up, you had a pretty bad bump on your head and-" he was cut off as he dodged a remote and game controller, both breaking when they hit the floor "will ya knock it off! I'm not gonna hurt you!"

"J-just stay away! Please!" She said as she held another controller out in front of her defensively as she shook slightly out of both exhaustion and fear.

Raphael sighed and stayed where he was and tried to look as unintimidating as possible, which was hard for the tall burly turtle, especially when he still had his weapons and all his gear still on.

"Where am I?" She asked trying to sound confident but her voice cracked and betrayed her.

"In the sewers below Manhattan." Donatello said from where he stood at the other side of the room, looking a little uncomfortable as he balanced from one foot to the other.

The girl frowned slightly and looked from Donatello back to Raphael, her eyes just as fiery as before 'God her eyes could set fire to water' he thought to himself and briefly glanced at the exposed skin of her lower stomach and hips as she stood up straight. Clearing his throat he quickly averted his gaze as a small blush crept up his green skin.

"Wait.. Sewers? For real?" She asked and both turtles nodded, then she got a dumb founded look on her face "wait, your those turtle guys that were on the news two years ago, when that big metal tower thing collapsed!" The brothers nodded again.

Raphael watched as the realization of the situation slowly dawned on her and she relaxed, releasing her grip on the game controller and her eyes became calmer though a small storm still raged behind them. Without warning she started laughing, causing both brothers to jump in surprise and they looked at each other, wondering what on earth was wrong with her now.

Asher's P.O.V

Asher remembered watching the news with her mom when they broadcasted four turtle humanoids fighting some crazy armored samurai on a roof top before falling and taking a rather large metal tower with them. She had been fifteen at the time and the thought of vigilante mutant ninjas fascinated her. She was a big fan and had even drawn pictures of what she had thought they looked like, but never thought she would come face to face with them. Hell she hadn't even been sure if they had been real or not, but she was sure now.

She was able to get a good look at them and noticed that the one who claimed to have saved her was the bigger of the two. He was a good six inches taller than her and was very muscular with scars decorating his green skin and bandages wrapped around his arms and legs. His chest and abs, or plastron since he was a turtle, had scratches and gouges all over. He had a red bandana on over his eyes and head that resembled a do-rag and she noticed a scar on the right side of his lip. Last she looked at his eyes, they were green flecked with gold and reminded her of when the leaves would change in autumn, they were intense and strange but beautiful.

The other turtle was a little taller and much thinner though he still had a muscular physique. He wore all sorts of gadgets including what looked like a small computer on his wrist and night vision goggles on his head and he was using solar panels as some kind of armor. His bandana was purple and covered his soft brown eyes that were a little obscured by the glasses he wore.

As she mulled over her current predicament and realized that if the two turtle... Ninjas had wanted to hurt her by now they probably would have, or at least she hoped. Averting her eyes from the floor to Raphael she felt an odd sense of relief and felt slightly guilty for having thrown things at him. She also realized how tired she was, her muscles ached and she lost her grip on the controller, letting it drop to the floor with a loud thud. As the exhaustion set in she got a sudden jolt of manic happiness and started laughing.

She laughed until her sides hurt and her eyes watered, eventually she began to hiccup and with a few deep breaths she managed to calm herself down. When she looked up and saw the disturbed expressions on the turtles faces she almost started laughing again, but put a hand over her mouth and counted to ten before speaking.

"Sorry about the um.. Outburst.." She said softly as she bit her lower lip, something she did when she was nervous.

"It's quite alright, that sort of reaction is normal considering what you've been through." Donatello said with a small smile but he kept his distance and Raphael watched her as if she was going to do something crazy.

Noticing this Asher exhaled then tried to smile as sweetly as she could before speaking again.

"Well I am sorry for yelling at you.. And punching you.." She said to them but Raphael crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her expectantly "oh, and throwing things at you." She finished and he shrugged.

"Whatever." He said gruffly, keeping up his tough guy persona.

Asher fought the urge to roll her eyes and took a moment to look around and her eyes widened. They were obviously in an old abandoned subway station, though you wouldn't be able to tell at first. She looked to her right and saw she stood in what must have been the living room and she almost laughed when she saw a couch and chair made of pizza boxes and couch cushions and the coffee table she had taken the box and controller she had thrown at the large turtle from. There was also a tv and farther in the room was an impressive amount of computers all displaying either different pictures of the sewers or long lists of numbers and words, she guessed that they must have used it for security reasons.

There was also a low Japanese style table and sitting pillows near a sink, stove and fridge that must have been the kitchen and dining room. She was impressed, they had really made a home for themselves down here where ever they were, and she wondered how large their home really was. Attempting to get a better look at the rest of their lair she was surprised to turn and find the large form of Raphael blocking her view.

"Done sight seeing?" He asked in irritation, Asher noticed him glance around as if he were expecting someone and nervously chew on the toothpick in his mouth.

"Well I am now." She chuckled and turned her attention to Donatello "That set up is pretty cool." She said gesturing to the computers.

Donatello blinked a few times "t-thanks." He said and adjusted his glasses "I set everything up myself." He said proudly with a shy grin.

Asher smiled "and thank you for fixing me up, I usually just end up limping back home and sleeping for days after." Her words rang with a hint of sadness that she tried to hide behind a cheery facade and she hoped neither of the turtles noticed "oh and my names Asher, what's yours?"

"Donatello, and that's Raphael, but our family calls us Donnie and Raph for short." He said pointing to her rescuer who glared at him in response "Of course, I'm just happy Raph was there to ah.. Assist you." Donatello said and stepped closer to her when he was sure she wouldn't become violent again "but you did have a concussion so you will need to take it easy and get some rest once you get home."

This made her laugh "sorry Donnie boy but I'm not much of a lay back and do nothing kind of person, I'm a bit of a busy body, can't sit in one spot for too long" she shrugged nonchalantly.

Donatello shook his head and sighed "you sound just like Raphael." He stated and narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"Alright parties over." Raphael interrupted impatiently "let's get you home before Master Splinter shows up." He closed his eyes, clearly regretting what he just said.

"Master who?" Asher asked and Raphael let out a frustrated sigh, running his hand over his face and gave her a 'just drop it' look and she put her hands up in surrender "alright, alright geez mister pissy pants." She said with a laugh.

Donatello couldn't help but laugh at her comment and ignored Raphael when he stared daggers in his direction. Asher giggled and feigned innocence when Raphael's glare focused on her.

"Let's get goin kid." He said gruffly earning a frown from Asher.

"I told you my name is Asher, I don't really care for pet names." She said trying to be civil, she really did hate pet names, it made her feel like people thought she was just an immature little kid.

"Cool story cupcake." Raphael said with emphasis on the word cupcake, his New York accent more noticeable than before, a smirk playing on his lips as he rolled his tooth pick over his teeth.

Asher blushed, she hated his snarky attitude, but she had to admit she liked his voice and when he smiled like that... She shook her head, no nope she was not about to let her mind go there. So she grit her teeth and tried to smile.

"Well lead the way Red." She said with a charming smile only receiving a grunt as a reply as he started walking towards the exit. She quickly bid good bye to Donatello and retrieved her coat and iPod from him before running to catch up with Raphael. He was walking at a brisk pace and had an impatient expression on his face as they traveled in silence. Asher was getting a little tired having to keep up him and felt little waves of dizziness off and on. Maybe she was in worse shape than she thought and instinctively reached for the back of her scalp and winced.

"Don't do that." Raphael said smacking her hand gently away from her wound and she reluctantly obeyed.

"Sorry I haven't had this kind of injury since.. Well for a long time." She caught herself before she said to much.

Raphael's P.O.V

Raphael noticed Asher's hesitation and his brow ridge furrowed, what could a girl like her have to hide? She didn't look like a bad person, sarcastic and witty sure but nothing worse as far as he could tell. 'You've only known her a couple hours idiot you don't know who she is' he thought to himself, and after he brought her home he wouldn't see her anymore and they would once again be strangers. He just hoped she would stay out of harms way and take Donatello's advice and rest so she could heal. But he could tell she was strong willed and would probably be back wandering the streets as soon as he left her and he sighed audibly, gaining Asher's attention.

"Something wrong Red?" She asked using the nickname she had given him earlier.

"Nah, just thinkin." He partially lied and tried hiding it behind his signature smirk.

Asher narrowed her tawny eyes in a scrutinizing way that made him feel like a bug under a magnifying glass.

"You're lying, your eyes say a lot and I can read you like a book." She stated matter of factly "now what's up?"

Raphael sighed in defeat and stopped walking when they reached a ladder.

"Will you promise to be more careful when you're out there on your own? I don't want to see you get beat up again." He said with a new sternness that made Asher blink in surprise and then she smiled.

It was an honest happy smile, one that reached her eyes and made Raphael's heart skip a beat and he wondered what he could have done to possibly make her look at him like that. And hoped he could do it again someday.

"Sure I'll promise." She nodded "if, you come visit me sometimes."

He knew he couldn't say no, not with the way she watched him with all that pure determination and hopefulness in her tawny eyes. He rubbed his scalp for a moment and grumbled to himself before nodding.

"Fine, I can't visit you every day or anything though so don't expect to much." He said trying to maintain his tough guy personality which was extinguished when she giggled.

"It's a deal then." She said and extended her hand and Raphael noticed how long and delicate her fingers looked, pianists hands some would call them, and carefully grabbed her hand and shook it.

"It's a deal." He grinned and pulled a think black bandana from out of no where and handed it to her "now put this on so I can get your ass home already."

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I decided to take ideas for the turtles lair from the 2014 movie and things I remember from some of the old episodes. I will try to post a chapter once or twice a week so stay tuned!


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